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Colourblind - Manav Kaul
Colourblind - Manav Kaul
Colourblind
By Manav Kaul
Characters:
Scene 1
Sujon Majhi re , kaun ghaate lagaiba tomar naav (traditional Baul song sung
off stage)
Café girl sits in a chair, she is busy writing. Old Tagore (Tagore), young Tagore
(Robi) and child Tagore (Bachcha) are on stage. So is Mrityu. Mrityu rings a
bell loudly.
Robi: Tum kabhi syaahi nahi laate ho…kyon? (How come you never bring any
ink?)
Robi: Agar syaahi khatm ho gayi toh? (what if the ink runs out?)
Mrityu: Toh woh naatak ka ant hoga….tab main tumhein lene aoonga. (that
will be the end of the play...and I will come to fetch you)
Robi: Jaise tum mere apno ko meri godi se uthakar le gaye the… (The way
you had taken my near and dear ones from me...)
Mrityu: Uss waqt bhi tum kavita hi likh rahe the. (You were busy writing
poems even then)
Tagore: Aakaash Bhora, shurjo taara, bisha bhora praan, tahaari majh
khaane, aami pechchi, aami pechchi mor sthaan bishyoye tai jaage jaage
amaar gaan….(Tagore's poem when his son passed away, at a very young
age)
Mrityu: Tumse bohat rashk hota hai…tum jiss tarah se mujhse badla lete ho…
mujhe bohat pasand hai..warna log apne pran de dete hain ro ro kar. (I am
very envious of you....the way you take revenge on me...I really like
that...most people cry their hearts out)
Robi: Kissne kaha ki main nahi roya? (What makes you think I didn't cry?)
Mrityu: Maine nahi dekha…main har baar dekhna chahta tha… (I didn't see...I
always wanted to see...)
Robi: Jab main chhota tha toh hamaare ghar mein kaam karne waale log
hamaare rote hi hamaara sar paani ki balti mein daal dete the.. (when i was a
child the servants in our house used to dunk our heads in a bucket of water
as soon as we began to cry...)
Mrityu laughs.
Mrityu: Sorry…aisa kyon karte the woh? (Sorry...why did they do that?)
Robi: Taaki koi hamaara rona sun na paaye. (So that no one would hear our
cries)
Café girl gets up and gives a piece of paper to Mrityu and takes a paper boat
from his hand. Mrityu reads the note.
Mrityu: Jeevan mein agar kuchch rang na dikhein toh woh kitne
mahatvpoorn ho jaate hain jo dikhte hain. (When you can't see some colours
in life, the ones that you can see, become that much more important)
Café girl goes and ties the paper boat to Bachcha’s ankle. She looks at him.
Café girl exits. Ocampo goes and stands like a portrait near Tagore.
Scene 2
Bachcha (child Tagore) plays around on his knees in the circle. The paper boat
remains tied to his ankle.
Bachcha: Ma..Ma…! Aap kidhar ho? Main soch raha tha…agar raat barah baje
ho sakti hai toh barah baje raat kyon nahi ho sakti? Dopahar ko, jab mujhe
padhna padta hai….Main kahin gol gol toh nahi ghoom raha? Ma! Woh Kamal
hai na woh mere charon or yun chalk se gola bana deta hai… aur kehta hai ki
ek kadam bhi baahar gaya toh buri sazaa milegi. Mujhe toh lagta hai Ma,
main ab hamesha hi gol gol chalne laga hoon. Aap yahaan so rahi ho? Baba
kidhar hai? Arre maine aapko dikhaya kya? Maine ek badhiya cheez banayi
hai…yeh dekho…(shows her the boat) achchi hai na? Haan? Nahi nahi…
daantna mat…daantna mat. Wahaan baba apne kamre mein baithe chitiyaan
banaate rehte hain dher saare kaagazon par…unhein aap kuchch nahi kehti
hai…main ek naav banaata hoon aur aap…..shshshs! shshshsh! Koi hai…kaun
hai? (picks up a lantern) Kaun hai?Arre yeh toh main hi hoon….yeh toh meri
parchchai hai!
Scene 3
Song starts
During the song, Tagore gets up from the chair, O Campo looks at Tagore.
Tagore removes his beard and mustache and gives it to Robi.
BLACK OUT
Scene 4
Voice 1: Excuse me, may I have a cappucino please. That will be all. Thank
you.
Voice 2: And then the let the laughing gas out into the ballroom and the king
and the queen start laughing! (laughs)
Voice 3: Yes Ma’am, here is your cappacino. Can I get you something else?
Voice 4: First tell me wht you want to have, chai or coffee. Nabbe rupay ki
coffee. Yeh toh bohat zyada hai. (Rs 90 for a coffee, that’s a lot.)
Voice 5: (laughs) Oh my god, this guy is taking so long to bring the coffee. Tell
me what you were saying.
While the offstage voices are heard stage right, offstage left we hear an
argument between two people, the café voices respond to the argument. The
argument ends with the Café girl being pushed on to stage.
Girl stumbles on to stage with books, folders and in a mess. Notices audience.
Oh, you’re all here. Good evening. I’m sorry I’m late, I know, I know, you’ve
all probably been through traffic, stood in line for tickets and you’re waiting
to see Colourblind…but…I haven’t finished it. I haven’t finished writing the
play. I don’t know where to start, I don’t know where to end. The more I
know about Tagore the less I can write.
He kept writing.
One year later, Kadambari Devi, his sister in law, committed suicide.
He kept writing.
He kept writing.
He kept writing.
Four years later his youngest son died.
He kept writing.
Then, finally, in 1913 he won a nobel prize for his book of poems Gitanjali.
One year later a young woman in Argentina, Victoria Ocampo, read the
French translation and cried – I said cried, not died.
In 1924 Tagore visited Argentina and met this same Victoria Ocampo. The
one who cried?
He was just well enough however to spend two months with Ocampo in her
villa,
And there…
One year later he dedicated Ocampo a book called Purabi, it had about 400
poems in it, so clearly he also kept writing.
They kept writing, letters to each other and he kept painting.
In 1927- they planned to meet in villa in Italy. But – at the last moment she
did not make it. She was busy, you see, paving her way as a writer, feminist,
intellectual.
He kept writing.
Until in 1941
Do you ever feel like you haven’t done enough in life, like you ever wake up
and think I expected to have reached further by this point in my life. Do you?
Well, you should. Because in his lifetime Tagore wrote a few plays, 4
novellas, 8 novels, over 80 short stories, hundreds of poems, roughly 2,230
songs, made one film, but that was not enough, so he painted, some 2000
paintings, though nobody actually knows, because they keep finding more.
Phhffhhhh… Now you know what I mean? Where do I start? Where do I end?
I have chaper one, chaper two, chapter three…I don’t have a chapter four.
And there’s this guy…he’s going to be here any minute now. He’s something
else…anyway he’s a scholar, an encyclopedia on Tagore, Bengali of course,
and I know he’s just going to take one look at this and laugh in my f-
She turns and sees café guy. He has an amused look on his face. She’s
embarrassed.
You want something? To eat? Drink? It’s self service here, so I can get get it
for you.
T: Good.
He smiles.
Silence.
When, when was it we last met? It’s been such a long time. At least a couple
months right?
He nods.
Well you look better than I remember you. I mean you looked good then too.
But you seem calmer.
Silence.
I just want to say it’s not linear. If you’re looking for something like that, you
won’t find. I mean it goes from his childhood to his later years, to him as a
young writer, it’s all rolled into one and and it might feel like a lot to take in
at first but stick with it, I mean it’s Tagore. You know what I mean? Ok don’t
don’t answer that. Just read.
She puts the paper in front of him. He starts reading when she interrupts.
I just want to say thank you so much for meeting me like this at the last
minute. I mean I know you said you’re off to santaniketan tomorrow and you
must have a lot to arrange last minute.
Mrityu: Age –
Tagore: No, time. Time waits like a patient Rottweiler in random crevices.
Girl: What if he hates it. Or he just doesn’t get it, if he doesn’t get it, it’ll just
sound absurd…boring, what if he thinks it’s boring.
Tagore: No, she will be my light, and she will be my revenge on time.
Scene 5
Tagore: After that I will turn away and not look back.
Tagore: My head unturned I’ll progress on to Peru and busy myself with the
daily routine of strangers and intrusions.
Mrityu: And you’re sure you won’t turn around to see her.
Victoria: I’m late I know. Lo sciento. I was with the doctor and I have your
medicines for the next two months. They are in the car. I brought…since you
are leaving and I probably won’t see you again, I brought the books I was
talking about.
Victoria: It has really been a pleasure having you stay this week. I hope you
were comfortable.
Victoria: I see you are leaving. The car is waiting. Quiera, I have prepared ah…
Victoria recites.
In the middle she breaks into a song spontaneously to the tune of Tagore’s
song More bina uthe kon sure baji...
She stops abruptly and the books in her hands fall off.
Victoria: It’s by a poet that I really admire, pero era unachapuza,I made a
mess...Anyway, I hope you have a safe journey…books.
She leaves.
Scene 6
Bachcha plays hopscotch. Woh 3 starts singing a bangla song and enters.
Robi 2: Who gaana…tum hi gaa rahi thi na? (that song....weren't you singing
that song?)
Robi 2: Yeh gaana ga ke suna do…(Can you please sing this song?)
Robi 2: Nahi, yeh who gaana nahi hai…suno tum suna do…(No, this isn't the
song....why don't you sing...)
Woh 2 exits.
Woh 1: Itni raat kahaan ko nikle the? (Where were you heading out so late at
night?)
Robi 2: Kissi naukar se khair khabar puchchwa deti. (You could have sent a
message with one of your servants)
Woh 1: Maine bhi socha tha…ka lekin unn tak baat pohanchne ka darr tha. (I
thought about it too...but I was worried the news would reach him.)
Robi 2: Tumhaare unko pata hai hamaare bare mein…? (Does he know about
us?)
Woh 1: Kya? Ki bachpan mein hamaari shaadi hone waali thi aur tum Kalkatte
bhaag gaye ? (What? That we were to be married when we were young but
you ran away to Kolkata?)
Robi 2: Nahi…ki tum meri sakha thi…(No...that you were my closest friend)
Robi 2: Haan, suno…aisa hi kuchch gaana hai…bol kuchch alag hain…(Yes, the
song is something like this....but the words are different)
Woh 2: Ghaate baadha deen gailo re… (sings the same song)
Robi 2: Yeh who gaana nahi hai… (This isn't that song)
Woh 2: Kyon? Ab tumhein desh ke gaane pasand nahi hain? Desh kaisa hai
tumhaara? (Why? You don't like songs of the country anymore? How is your
country doing?)
Robi 2: Issliye jaa rahi ho ki main rokoon tumhein? (Are you leaving so that I
stop you?)
Woh 2: Tumhaari aawaaz mein toh kranti hua karti thi…uska kya hua? (There
was a certain revolution in your voice...what happened to that?)
Robi 2: Jawaab kuchch nahi hai…bas sawaal hi sawaal hai..aur main sakha
nahi hoon. (There aren't any answers...only questions...and I am not your
closest friend)
Robi 2: yeh kya laga rakh hai tumhaara desh tumhaara desh…yeh tumhaara
desh nahi hai kya? (Why do you keep going on 'your country' 'your
country'...isn't this your country as well?)
Woh 2: Mere desh aur tumhaare desh mein bohat antar hai… (There is a
world of a difference between my country and your country)
Robi 2 turns towards Woh 3 and sees that she has gone. He turns around at
woh 2.
Robi 2 exits.
Scene 7
Girl: I’m not trying to be correct, I’m just trying to be honest. I want to know
who was this young man Tagore. In his youth itself he was writing so much,
and all his characters one after another just go through pain, loss, suffering
and it’s incessant and it feels like he’s just sifting through it all as fast as
possible in order to reach that one perfect…that…
Robi 2: Song.
Girl: That song. That song he’s searching for so desperately, it’s his need to
stop writing. To put an end it all. You know what I mean?
Man: It’s to early for me to say. Can I have the next chapter?
She hands him the paper. He’s about to read. He looks up.
Girl: Yes, of course, he stayed back with Ocampo for two months, I know, it’s
coming, just read.
Silence.
Girl: There was this guy I was seeing in college. He was crazy about me, he
would follow me everywhere, treat me like a princess and at the time I was
just like, ok, you know, whatever. It’s only when he left. That’s when I
realized I loved him.
Man: I was about fourteen when I first fell in love. Had a crush on my sister in
law.
Man: No I swear it happened to me too. Puberty had just hit and she would
walk around in a t shirt and shorts without a bra. It was too much for a
budding young boy.
Girl: Very funny. I know you’re making fun of me. (still laughing)
Girl: Ok, you know what, just read. I’m going for a smoke.
Scene 8
As he is talking G has begun putting up her hair, putting on a hat and heels
and started walking to the villa.
Mrityu/Death: You are not supposed to be aroused this easily. She’s just a
girl. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She probably has no idea what she
wants.
Man: But the sun is hitting her from behind, that morning sun, golden,
contouring her silhouette and gently separating the space between her sheer
shirt and her breast. I would like so much just to touch her. Do no more than
that.
Mrityu: You don’t have the guts to do it though, you’ll never do it.
As Victoria says ‘I see you have begun translating..’ Tagore touches her
breast.
Humming (tune of More bina uthe kon sure baji…) starts in the background.
Then Tagore removes his hand and turns away.
Victoria: Gurudeb I am happy that you stayed. I was saying how I like the last
two lines here.
No response.
No response.
Victoria: I was just leaving anyway.
She waits.
Victoria: I spoke to the doctor this morning. He is very happy with how you’re
improving.
Silence.
Bachcha: Yes.
Victoria: Good. Good. Fani also is very happy that you’ve got your appetite
back.
Bachcha: Sometimes.
Bachcha: Yes.
Bachcha: Bejoya.
Tagore: I’m tired of being Tagore for everyone. I don’t want to be Tagore
anymore.
Bachcha leaves.
Tagore: That is almost funny. I stayed back and you have to leave. Do you
have to leave because I stayed back?
Victoria: Non…
V: No tengotiempo.
She walks out and he is left alone. He goes and puts his head in the bucket of
water. Humming resumes. Stops as Woh 2 starts speaking.
Scene 9
Woh 2 breaks out of portrait. Robi is sitting next to her and writing. Robi 2
and woh 1 are sitting together at the other end in a classic romantic photo
pose.
Woh 2: Postmaster!!
Robi: Nahi…abhi naam nahi rakha hai uss kahaani ka…(No...I haven't named
this story yet...)
Woh 1: Tumhein pata hai main kya sunaoongi…phir seedhe kyon nahi bolte…
(You know what I will sing...so why don't you just say...'sing that one')
Woh 2: Tum yeh kyon kar rahe ho apne saath? (Why are you doing this to
yourself?)
Robi: Kya? Main gaana sunna chahta hoon. Usmein galat kya hai? Jo main
nahi chahta hoon tum sab mujhe who banaane ki koshish mein kyon lage
rehte ho? (What? I want to listen to a song. What is wrong in that? Why do
all of you want to make me into something that I am not?)
Robi 2: Main tumhaara pati nahi hoon jo seedhe kahega ki yeh suna do. (I am
not your husband, that I can ask you directly, to sing that song)
Woh 2: Main who baat nahi kar rahi thi. (That is not what I meant)
Robi: Achcha…toh kya keh rahi thi? ( Really...then what did you mean?)
Woh 1: Kyon chahiye who jo kabhi mil nahi sakta? (Why do you want
something that you can never get?)
Robi 2: Ajeeb hai yeh sawaal tum poochch rahi ho. (It’s strange that you ask
me that question)
Woh 2: Kyonki tumne mujhe likha hai. (because you have written me.)
Robi 2: Main tumse kehta hoon…ki yeh jo meri band muththi hai…agar tum
isse khologi toh tumhein who milega jisse tum hamesha se paana chahti thi…
kyat um isse kholna chahogi? (I tell you...this closed fist of mine...if you open
it you will get that which you have always wanted...would you like to open
it?)
Robi 2: Main tumhaare mooh se sunna chahta hoon. (I want to hear it from
you)
Woh 1: Toh suno, haan, main kholna chahti hoon…kyonki main jo chahti
hoon who isliye chahti hoon ki use paya ja sake.. (Then listen, yes, I do want
to open it....and I want to open it because what I want , I want, so that it can
be gotten)
Woh 2: Par tum use who muththi kholne nahi doge…hai na? (But you won't
let her open that fist...right?)
Robi: Main kaun hota hoon use rokne waala? (Who am I to stop her?)
Robi: Yahaan log mujhe Ratan kehte hain. (People call me Ratan, here)
Woh 2: yeh tum har jagah apna naam kyon badal lete ho? (Why do you keep
changing your name everywhere ?)
Robi: Likhne mein aasaani hoti hai. (It's easier to write that way)
Woh 2 (to the girl in the cafe): No....changing your name makes you less
answerable.
Woh 2 exits.
Mausi: Ratan….Ratan!!
Robi 2: Mausi bula rahi hai…mujhe jaana hoga. (Mausi is calling...I will have
to leave)
Woh 1: Mat jao…mujhe pata hai mera adhikaar nahi hai…par pehli baar keh
rahi hoon…mat jao..(Don't go...I know I don't have the right to ask...but I am
asking you just this once...don't go...)
Robi: Tumhein pata hai use jaana hai…phir use rokti kyon ho…tum jaao. (You
know very well that he has to leave...then why stop him?...you leave)
Robi: Maine abhi ant likha nahi hai…Mausi ki entry hai. ( I haven't written the
end ...now leave...it is Mausi's entry)
Mausi enters.
Woh 1: Ratan ko yeh post office chhod aaye. (There isn't any Ratan anymore.
He left Ratan at the post office)
Mausi: Itni baarish mein use akela chhod aaye? (You left him there in this
heavy downpour?)
Woh 1: yeh toh waise bhi use chhodne waale the. (He was going to leave him
anyway)
Woh 1: yeh yahaan nahi reh sakta…inki tabiyat kharaab ho jaati hai… (He
can't stay in this village...he feels unwell here..)
Mausi: Par yeh toh tumhaare log hain…tumhaare apne log.. tum inke saath
jee nahi sakte? (But these are your people...your own people...and you can't
stay with them?)
Woh 1: He lives in a fictional world. Yeh itna sach nahi jee sakte (He lives in a
fictional world. He cannot live so much truth)
Mausi: isiliye bhaag rahe ho? (Hence you are running away?)
Robi: Haan (yes)
Mausi: Kab tak bhaagte rahoge? (For how long will you run?)
Mausi: Toh phir Raja Rani ki kahaaniyan hi likhna, bas. (Then keep writing
only about Kings and Queens)
Woh 1: Nahi, hamaare bare mein bhi likhna chahte hain….par hamaare saath
reh kar nahi.. (No, he wants to write about us too....but not by living amongst
us)
Mausi: Toh phir yeh inki baat kaise hui? (Then how would it be there story?)
Robi: Mausi, yeh socho ki yeh mera ghar hai…mera apna ghar…main baar
baar isse chhod ke chala jaata hoon taaki apne likhe mein apna ghar paa
sakoon. (Mausi, think of it like this..this is my home...I have to leave it time
and again so I can discover my home in my writings)
Robi is quiet.
Woh 1: Naam nahi rakha hai issne mera. (He hasn't named me yet)
Woh 1 exits.
Robi tears a couple of pages from his diary and gives them to Mausi.
Robi exits.
Mausi: Jatin…Jatin
Robi: Ab woh Ratan nahi hai...ab woh Jatin hai. (He isn't Ratan anymore...he
is Jatin)
Robi 2 enters.
Robi 2: Woh kahaan hai? Woh nahi aayi aapke saath? (Where is she? She
didn't come with you?)
Mausi: Woh aakhri gaana dhoondne gayi hai. Bas aati hi hogi. (She has gone
to search for the last song. She will be back soon.)
Robi 2: Mere paas ab waqt nahi hai. (I don't have the time anymore)
Mausi: Bina gaana sune hi chale jaoge? (You will leave without listening to
the song?)
(Mausi exits.)
Robi 2 (in Bengali): Eta ki? ER manetar ki? Jai ichche tai likhbe? (What is this?
What does this mean? You will write whatever you wish?)
Scene 10
R looks up, he has just finished reading her notebook. He paces to the café
and slams the notebook on the café table in front of G.
Man: (He is ranting off in Bangla) Eta ki? Er maaney ta ki? Ja icchhe tai likhbe?
Jaar tar bepare ja icchhe tai likhbe? Kaakey jigesh kore eta likhecho? Eshob
kotha kothay porecho tumi? Oshobbho! (What does this mean? You will
write whatever you like?Will you write anything about anyone? Whom did
you ask before writing this? Where did you read all this stuff? Ridiculous! )
Absolute rubbish!
This never happened. This is false. You can’t write stuff like this. And that
child that’s crawling around? What is that? Etcetc, ends with… I mean all
you’ve basically done is taken some cheap gossip and blown it out of
proportion.
Girl: Cheap gos-excuse me? Firstly this is not gossip, this is a well
documented fact. Tagore actually did, you know…
Man: What?
Girl: You know what I’m talking about. Page 272, read it!.
Man: Ok, yes, there was a touch, but that doesn’t mean you invent a
relationship to the effect of ‘Gone with the Wind’
Girl: Oh come on, I’m hardly…look Ocampo knew her memoirs were going to
be published and yet she included this intimate detail. When something is
given to us in plain view, we cannot ignore the possibilities. Tagore touched
Ocampo in a sexual way, and the man that he was, he certainly did not do it
casually. There must have been sparks flying in the villa for weeks for him to
arrive at this gesture.
Girl: It makes him human! I’m so tired of hearing about the great writer
Rabindranath Tagore, and his spiritual relationship with Ocampo. I’m
interested in the man, and this little moment between them, it makes him a
man. It makes him vulnerable. Naked. I mean, he feels like a real person.
Man: Still I’m not letting you talk your way out of this. There are too many
indulgences. I mean, Tagore as a child speaking to Ocampo, come on, he was
63 when he met her.
Girl: To me time and reality are what I make of them. I believe there was a
playful side to Tagore, Ocampo brought that out in him and I wanted to-
Man: But it’s so misleading, I mean if this were ever to be published, not that
it will ever be published, people will assume that you have no idea what
you’re -
Girl: I’m not writing a document for some government. You know, Tagore
wrote a poem
I feel like that person. I mean this, all this, is my answer to Tagore, not to you
and not to anyone else-
Man: -I just can’t agree with this, talk as much as you want but it’s unclear,
it’s muddled, Tagore becoming his own characters, Tagore talking to himself-
Girl: But writers are like that, they lose themselves in their work and become
their own characters. In fact, I’m writing this café scene, what you’re saying,
what I’m saying, we are characters in my story.
Girl: What?
Girl: Well at least it’s a passionate little piece of fiction and no grumpy old
man is going to shut me up with his dry, preconceived reverence for a man
who’s been dead for 150 years.
Man: bangla…
Girl: Fine, we’ll just sit here and listen to this strange music instead.
She writes.
Scene 11
Woh 2: Ant likh liya tumne (Have you written the end yet?)
Robi 2: Bas, wohi likh raha hoon. (That's exactly what I was writing)
Woh 2: Main badal gayi hoon…lekin tumhein wahi gaana sunna hai…isliye
tum meri taraf dekhna hi nahi chahte… (I have changed...but you just want to
hear that song...that is why you won't even look at me...)
Robi 2: Mausam bigad raha hai aur mujhe uss paar jaana hai.. (The weather is
turning for the worse...and I have to get across)
Robi 2: Tum jaldi se ek gaana suna do..(why dont you sing that song quickly)
Woh 2 exits.
Woh 3: Main mrityu nahi gaana chahti. (I don't want to sing death)
Robi 2: Kisne kaha ki tum mrityu gao…tum jeevan gao. (Who asked you to
sing death? ... sing life)
Robi 2: Tum prem..prem ga do.. (why don't you sing love, then?)
Woh 3: Prem aur mrityu mein mere liye antar hai…tum antar kho dete ho..
(Love and death are two different things for me....you forget that difference)
Robi 2: Jo tumhaari ikchah ho woh suna do. (Sing whatever you like)
Woh 3: Mujhe pata hai ki tum gaana likhte hi chale jaoge..gaane se bhi aur
yahaan se bhi..(I know that you will go away as soon as you write that
song....from the song...and from here, as well)
Robi 2: Tumhein pata hai ki mujhe jaana hai.. (You know that I have to leave)
Woh 1: Main apna sab kuchch chhod kar tumhaare saath chal sakti hoon…
abhi...issi waqt(I can leave everything and come with you...right this minute)
Woh 2 : Main apna sab kuchh chhod kar tumhaare saath chal sakti hoon…
abhi…issi waqt. ((I can leave everything and come with you...right this
minute)
Robi 2: Dekho…(Look)
Woh 1: Soch kar jawaab do…doosra mauka de rahi hoon..(Think before you
reply...I am giving you a second chance)
Robi 2: Uss paar mujhe kissi ki zaroorat nahi hai…uss paar ant hai…wahaan se
waapasi bhi sambhav nahi hai…(I don't need anyone across the river...across
lies the end..there is no return from there )
Woh 1: Tum kyon hamesha likhta rehna chahta ho? (Why do you need to
keep writing?)
Woh 3: Main bhi tumse poochchna chahti thi..tumhein ant se bohat darr
lagta hai na…pata hai mujhe hamesha lagta hai ki tumhaari kahaniyan koi aur
likhta hai..aur unka ant koi aur. (I too wanted to ask you...you are very scared
of the end, right?...you know, I always get a feeling that someone else writes
your stories...and then someone else the end)
Robi 2: Tum gaana kyon nahi gaa rahi ho? (Why aren't you singing?)
Woh 3: Kyon? Taaki tum uss paar ja sako? Kahaani ka ant likhne? (Why? So
that you can go across? To write the end?)
Robi 2: Iss kahaani ka ant main yahin karke jaa raha hoon..isliye kehta hoon
gaana suna do aur mujhe jaane do. (I am going to end this story right
here...that is why I am asking you to sing a song and let me go.)
Woh 1: Aur ant ke baad mera kya hoga? ( And what will happen to me after
the end?)
Robi 2: Ant ke baad kissi ka bhi kya hota hai? (What happens to anyone after
the end?)
Woh 1: Main gaa toh paa nahi rahi hoon..tum maar do mujhe iss kahaani
mein (I am unable to sing...why don't you kill me in this story?)
Robi 2: Itna saral ant chahti ho? (You want such a simple end?)
Woh 1: Ek baar mere liye maar do mujhe..waise bhi tum chale jaoge..phir
hum kabhi nahi milenge..phir main kyon nadi ke iss paar zinda padi rahoon?
(Just kill me once, for my sake...as it is you will leave...and then we will never
meet again...then why should I keep waiting for you here, on this side of the
river, alive?)
Robi 2: Issliye kyonki kahaaniyan kabhi marti nahi hai…main kahi bhi
honga..mujhe pata hoga ki nadi ke uss paar tum ho…iss kahaani mein ab bhi
zinda. (because stories never die...wherever I shall be...I will know that you
are on this side of the river..still alive in this story..)
Woh 1: Tumhaare saath ja kaun raha hai? (Who is going along with you?)
Woh 1 smiles and leaves. Mrityu enters and sits in the empty space.
Robi 2: Bas…do minute…main abhi aaya (just two minutes..I'll just come)
Mrityu: Bhai, samay ho gaya hai yahaan sabko Namaste kehne ka (Mate, it's
time to bid goodbye to everyone here)
Robi 2: Haan main wahi kar raha hoon…bas ek gaana sunn loon toh chaloon.
(That's exactly what I am doing...let me just listen to this song, and then I
shall come)
Mrityu: Main jab bhi tumhein lene aata hoon toh tumhein jeevan thoda kam
hi lagta hai…tum bas ek aakhiri gaana sunn lena chahte ho..(Whenever I
come to fetch you you always find life a little short...you always want to
listen to that one last song)
Robi 2: Maar do mujhe..Mai mrityu chahta hu, kaisi hogi mrityu, khoobsoorat
hogi naa.(Kill me...I want death...how will death be?...it will be lovely, won't
it?)
“Maran re…..
Scene 12
Mrityu speaks.
Tagore: money aachey jokhon tumi prothim eshechiley? Maakey nitey. (Do
you remember the first time you had come to take my mother away?)
Bachcha/Child Tagore: Ei! Kothay jacchho? (Hey, where are you going?)
Mrityu: Etar ar ekhon kono proyojon nei, tai exit korchhi. (There is no use of
this here, that is why I am exiting with it)
Mrityu: Na. Ami exit korte shahaajyo kori. Ami abar ashbo. Amake aro
koekbar ashte hobe. (No. I just help in making others exit. I will be coming
here time and again. )
Bachcha: Keno? Keno ashte hobe? (Why? Why will you have to come?)
Mrityu: Amar shathe onek ke jete hobe je. Koekjon ke shomoy moto, koekjon
ke shomoy er agey. (Because a lot of people have to go with me. Some
before time and some right on time.)
Bachcha: Acchha, ashar shomoy ekta kalam niye esho. (okay, next time will
you bring me a pen?)
Mrityu: Kalam o amii aanbo? Tahole toh tumi amake niyei likhbe. ( You want
me to bring you a pen? Then you will end up writing only about me.)
Bachcha: Tumi jodi ek ek kore shobai ke ekhan theke niye jao, tahole toh
ekhanta khub phaka hoye jabe. Shei jyaga ta bhorbo ki kore? (If you keep
taking everyone from here, there will be a lot of empty space. How will I fill it
all?)
Mrityu: Kalam toh anacchho amake diye. (I am getting you a pen, aren't I?)
Bachcha: Ar kaali jokhon shesh hobe? (And when it does run out?)
Mrityu: Kaali jokhon shesh hobe tokhon ami tomake nitey ashbo. (When it
does run out, I will come and fetch you.)
Bachcha: Kibhabe niye jabe amake? ( How will you take me?)
Mrityu: Ekhoni lekha shuru koro na. Ami kalam ta niye ashi. (Don't start
writing yet. I am getting the pen for you.)
Mrityu exits.
Scene 13
Scene 15
Tagore finishes reciting from Purabi. Victoria enters and stares at Tagore.
Mrityu silently makes him aware that she has entered.
Mrityu: She!
Tagore: Yes.
Tagore: Sorry. I’ve not had time to translate it. I will translate it now
Victoria: I just, I’m not going to understand your poems. So I don’t know
what is the point.
Tagore: I will paint. That’s a great idea. I will paint a baul running in absolute
abandon, I will paint his face.
Mrityu: Pata hai tumhaari problem kya hai, tum Tagore ho, aur tum, tum
Ocampo.Chalo maan le ke ab tum Tagore nahin or tum O’Campo nahin. Toh
tum bologe. (You know what your problem is. You are Tagore, and you are O
Campo. Suppose you weren't Tagore, and you weren't O Camp. Then you
would say)
Victoria: Bahut door jaana hai tumhe. Chal paoge? (You have a long way to
go. Will you be able to walk?)
Tagore: Keh do ki tum Shantiniketan aaoge. (Say that you will come to Shanti
niketan)
Tagore: Nahin main ja nahin paounga. Tum keh do ke tum aaogi. ( I won't be
able to leave. Please say that you will come.)
Victoria: Kyonki main nahin chahtike tum jao. (Because I don't want you to
leave.)
Mrityu: Bahut der ke intezaar ke baad bhi wo kuch nahin kehti. (After a long
silence, she still doesn't say anything)
Victoria: How do I know? You’re still writing. How can you talk about
painting, when you’re still writing?
Mrityu: Hope.
Tagore: I’m sorry I wasn’t shouting at you. I’m just…please, be patient with
me.
Tagore: Mujhe ek baat samajh mein nahi aati...Ek kavi ki mrityu purush kaise
ho sakta hai? (There is one thing I don't understand....how can a poet's death
be male?)
Scene 16
A hip hop fusion of Labonay begins in the café. Man is inside. He can hear Girl
outside shouting. He’s amused.
Girl: Eh! Bhaisahib. Wo meri gaadi hai.Kissne kaha, nahin nahin nahin, please,
sir, please. Main abhi de deti hun panch sau.Arey, tum log. Fuck you!
She enters all charged up shouting over the music.
G: Yaar, they towed my car. I swear, you can’t help but give bribes in this
city! Hello! Can you shut up please?
Hip hop singer 4: Who the hell does she think she is>
Man: Yes.
Girl: Hmm…
Scene 17
Scene 16 (cont.)
Girl: Arey, you know that story where Jatin is on his death bed and asking for
his wife and Mausi comforts him saying she’s coming when she really isn’t.
Scene 17 (cont.)
Mausi: Ussne abhi abhi iss kahaani mein apna naam Jatin rakha hai. (He has
just changed his name to Jatin in this story.)
Woh 3: Patni?...woh likhna chahta hai aur main jeena chahti hoon…main nahi
ruk sakti. (Wife? He just wants to write...but I want to live...I can't stay)
Mausi: dekho aakhri gaana ga do…iss tarah mat jao…who tadapta rahega.
(Please just sing the last song...don't leave this way...otherwise he will keep
pining.)
Woh 3: Wahaan Ratan post office ke chakkar kaatta rahega..yahaan main
gaane ke baad zinda padi rahoongi….ussne jeevan mein sabko khoya hai…
kahaani mein uss baat ka badla kyon le raha hai? (Ratan will keep wandering
around the post office...and here I will still be alive after the song...he has
lost everyone in this life...but why is he taking his revenge through his
stories?)
Woh 3: Uske saath mrityu hai…mera poora jeevan hai…main jaati hoon. (He
has death with him...but I have my entire life ahead of me...I have to go)
Mausi: Achcha suno, agar tum Jatin ke liye gaana gaati toh kaunsa gaana
sunaati use? (Listen, if you were to sing one last song for Jatin, what would
you sing?)
Robi 2’s voice is heard : “Bas aaya, do minute”. (Coming, just two minutes)
Mausi drops her shawl and goes and sits. She hides her face with her sari.
Robi 2 enters.
Robi 2: Naav jaane waali hai…mrityu intezaar kar rahi hai…main jaa raha
hoon. (The boat is about to leave...death is waiting...I am leaving)
Robi 2: Mujhe pata hai tum gaana gaoogi..woh iss kahaani ka ant hoga..bas
aise gaana ki mere uss paar pohanchne tak main tumhaara gaana sunn
sakoon. (I know that you will sing...and that will be the end of this story...just
sing in such a way that I can still hear your song till I reach the other side..)
Robi 2 leaves.
Scene 18
Man leaves his chair and sits with his knees on the floor besides the girl. Girl
keeps looking as if talking to the empty chair.
Girl: Yes?
Girl: Yes.
Man: What?
Girl: Fifty?
Girl: Oh!
Man: Surprised?
Man: I had one once, but it was unmanageable. I looked like I lived in a cave.
Girl: Lost boy, great mind, neglected body, but still somehow…
Man: Who?
Man: I just don’t know what I’d say. Humein koi painting kyon pasand aati
hai? Maine kahin padha tha…ki jab hum apne jeevan ke ansh unn rangon
mein kahin dekh lete hain toh who rangon ka samooh humse baat karta
dikhta hai…hum kehta hain yeh painting mujhe bohat pasand hai..(Why do
we like any painting? I have read somewhere...that when we see aspects of
our life in those colours the colours seem to talk to us...we say that we really
like the painting)
Man: Tagore ab mujhe rangon mein dikhai dete hain…ek vishaal canvas par
saghan rangon ke chhote bade strokes. Thoda door hatke uss painting ko
dekho toh mujhe kathai rang ka ek brush stroke nazar aata hai. (Tagore now
appears to me in those colours..a large canvas with small and large brush
strokes of various colours...when you look at it from a distance..I can see a
khaki coloured brush stroke)
Man: Aisa lagta hai jaise kissi ne kore kaagaz par mehez ‘Ka’ likh diya ho. Uss
gehere kathai rang ko jab chhone jaata hoon toh woh ab bhi geela hai..aisa
lagta hai jaise kahin kuchch kami hai..(It feels as though someone has written
merely the letter 'K' on an empty sheet. When I go to touch that deep khaki
colour it's still wet...as though there is something missing)
Man : Nahi, asal mein kami theek shabd nahi hai…khaali hai…haan aisa lagta
hai jaise khaali hai…(No..in fact, missing is not the right word..empty..yes, it
feels as if its empty)
Man : Mano ek kursi poori zindagi khaali padi ho…iss intezaar mein ki
wahaan koi apna aakar baithega…jisse main jaanta nahin hoon… (As if a chair
is empty for a lifetime...in the hope that someone my own will come and sit
in it...someone I don't know..)
Man: Ek din...(one day)
She finishes writing. She puts her pen down and packs up her things while
she speaks to Mausi.
Girl : I see it clearly now. The two of us - two impossibilities. We would hold
out I’m sure, with our ups and downs. Like two people together, but
stranded out at sea. I have my end. It’s not about the age. It’s about a
moment. That’s all it takes for a lifetime of happiness. On the other hand, if
you touch something you love, it wilts…
Scene 19
In the villa…
For I saw there the glow of the fire that lay asleep,
Tagore: You were meant to. I translated it last night for you. Now you know.
Silence reigns between the two. They start moving away from each other.
Their voices become louder but more distant as they speak.
Tagore: That chair…I’m not sure it will fit through the door of the ‘sheeeep’
She laughs.
Victoria: We’ll work something out. I’ll speak the to captain, of the ‘ship’?
Tagore: Guests. (slight sting to his tone) Yes well I’d like to give you these
books, for being such a wonderful host.
Tagore: Bejoya?
No response. She just stands there looking at him. He stops.
Tagore: Yes?
R gives a sigh.
Silence.
Victoria: What?
Scene 20
………………Arjun…tumi Arjun”
“Arjun…arjun….arjun….arjun”
Dear Bijoya.
Gurudev,
I went to your villa yesterday. It was not a very wise thing to do. It feels
empty without you. Have you reached Shantaniketan?
I have reached Shantaniketan and I’m working here. The tired feeling still
persists. I do not know how long this letter will take to reach you.
I must admit that I miss you too much, it’s becoming quite uncomfortable,
quite inconvenient.
My bhalobasa,
There are some animals which feign death in order to save themselves from
the danger of death. I am advised by doctors to follow their example. Of
course I do everything against the prohibition of my doctors, including
writing this letter and painting.
Tagore:
Dear Bejoya,
Victoria:
Dear Gurudev,
Take care of yourself. How I feel sad not to be able to take care of you.
Song continues
Tagore:
Bejoya,
Gurudev,
Tagore:
Bejoya,
Song starts
When?
“Tu”
Next march
“Mi”
Where?
“Ar”
Swizerland.
“Jun”
I’ll secure a villa.
“Nnn”
Again?
“Nnn”
I have at last started my voyage to the West. I look forward to meeting you.
Gurudev,
Everyone gets up and moves towards the back of the stage very slowly. Each
actor aquires a portrait like stance and remains still.
Last section
Victoria:
I know you are waiting in Switzerland, and the Villa in Italy is arranged. I
know you are waiting for me to respond. I know it is only a matter of my
reaching there without further delay…but Gurudev, I must try to explain my
reason for not…I want to come to Europe but we are busy with our
magazine–I think of you fondly and miss you too- it is just that right now I’m
finding it impossible to-
Tagore:
Bejoya
Will you not come to see me? I am here in Switzerland, and my time is short.
I am anxiously waiting for you.
Dearest Bejoya,
I have made repeated futile efforts to inform you that I eagerly wish to see
you. Are you receiving my letters?
Bejoya
I am in Italy. Waiting.
I miss you.
Is she here?
Is she on a ship?
Where is she?
I miss her.
Bachcha stops Tagore and makes him turn around and look at the portraits.
Bachcha sings ‘Mammo chitte, nitti nrittye………..ki anando, ki anando…”
Death enters.
Scene 21
Tagore: Mujhe pata tha ant mein ant sundar hoga…maine hamesha sundar
ant ki kalpana kit hi..tum wakai bohar sundar ho. (I knew that in the end...
the end would be very beautiful...I had always imagined a beautiful end and
you are indeed...very beautiful)
Death: Antim ikchah poori kar li tumne? (have you had your last wish?)
Death: Abhi bhi koi ikchah hai? (Is there still a last wish?)
Death: Kuchch likhna hai yeh mat kehna.. (Don't say that you still want to
write)
Tagore: Ek chai peena chahta hoon tumhaare saath (I just wanted to have a
cup of tea with you)
Death: Aisa kyon lag raha hai ki iss ant ki bhi kavita tum likh chuke ho? (Why
do I get a feeling that you have written a poem about this end too?)
Tagore: Aur hum dono uss kavita ke andar abhinay kar rahe hain. (And both
of us are acting in the poem?)
Tagore: Tum chai nahi peeogi? (Won't you drink some tea?)
Death: Acidity!
Tagore: Toh kya socha hai? (So what have you thought?)
Death: Yeh bhi tum likh nahi chuke ho? (Haven't you written that too?)
Tagore: Who saari kalpana thi…main pehli baar isse jeena chahta hoon. (That
was all in the imagination. ..I want to live it for the first time.)
Tagore: Bilkul waisi jaisi honi chahiye. Toh batao…kaise challenge? (Just the
way it should be...so tell me...how shall we go?)
Tagore: Bas…uthenge aur chale jayenge. (That's all?...we get up and just
leave?)
Tagore: Ismein koi kavita nahi hai? (There isn't any poetry in that)
Death: Jeevan mein kaunsi kavita hai? Jo likh raha tha who toh koi aur tha…
tum toh bas use seh rahe the. (Is there any poetry in life? The one who was
writing was someone else...you were just bearing him)
Death: uski syaahi khatam ho chuki hai. (His ink has run out)
Death: Ab iss diye ki zaroorat nahi hai (We don't need this lamp now)
Black out.
…………………………………………………….END…………………………………………………………
……………………………..